QUIET RIOT Singer KEVIN DUBROW: 'Who The Fuck Is MESHUGGAH?'

QUIET RIOT frontman Kevin DuBrow recently spoke to KNAC.COM about his reputation as an "asshole" and last year's ill-fated "Bad Boys of Metal" tour with Jani Lane (ex-WARRANT) and Steven Adler (ex-GUNS N' ROSES),among other topics. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

KNAC.COM: It's true that the Internet gives a forum to all kinds of people who may not have had one otherwise. Is it so bad though that you would say the negatives provided by the 'Net outweigh the positives?

Kevin DuBrow: "Well, I just think that people who have negative thoughts take more time and energy to post their feelings."

KNAC.COM: To anyone who has ever spent any time on the ‘Net, that would have to seem like a pretty valid statement.

Kevin DuBrow: "I do have to say this though about the people who post on the Internet and say bad things about me and others — you have to give them very little credibility for one simple reason. I can just picture in my mind's eye this guy sitting in front of his computer and reading this which will start the rants on KNAC like they always do, and starting tons and tons of this negative stuff about what a piece of shit I am. I can just picture a guy like that who with one hand is typing out 'Fuck Kevin Dubrow — he's such and asshole' while with the other hand he's got some hand lotion jacking off to some porno site. That's his life, so I give very little credibility to it. I might read something like, 'I saw QUIET RIOT and there were ten people in the audience.' What QUIET RIOT show were you at? The shows I do are 85 percent full, if not sold out, and the other 15 percent generally don't do well because they weren't promoted. The living proof of that is on Pollstar. Go and check our numbers. Also, we wouldn't keep getting booked in the same places if we weren't making any money."

KNAC.COM: Yeah, promoters are kind of funny that way.

Kevin DuBrow: "Yeah, no one is giving to the QUIET RIOT Charity for Wayward Headbangers. That is how I view the Internet. It is a great communication tool, but I just believe the people who post negative comments on it do so because that is their life. If they want to spend all their time and energy going after '80s bands and saying what garbage they are, then that's up to them. I am an assiduous reader, and I go on KNAC.COM, and I go to Blabbermouth, and it seems like the only band anyone says anything good about is a band called… MESHUGGAH?"

KNAC.COM: Yeah — nice guys, but their music isn't the most accessible in the world, so it sort of odd that they would have so many fans on these sites.

Kevin DuBrow: "I've never heard of them, but that's neither here nor there. It's like, 'QUIET RIOT sucks, but MESHUGGAH rocks!' Well, who the fuck is MESHUGGAH, and what do they have to do with us? I wish them nothing but good luck, but you know what I'm saying."

KNAC.COM: Can you say anything about the Bad Boys of Metal Tour and how that really worked out? I know Jani left before the tour was over.

Kevin DuBrow: "What do you want to know?"

KNAC.COM: I had spoken to him a week or so ago, and he said he left because he felt "uncomfortable." He didn't get really specific, but he did say that he felt that it was just better to remove himself from the situation. Was it an amicable split in your view? Do you have any insight into what he may have been referring to?

Kevin DuBrow: "That's just a lie. It was uncomfortable for him because he was out of it. I didn't really see what he was doing. Everyone was just telling me about it because I don't pay any attention to him. I was worried about my show. Everyone is aware of Jani's problems and his addictions. We were in Buffalo, New York, and he got up in the morning looking pretty ragged. I'm a pretty in-your-face kind of guy. I wanted to get a shower and get a hotel room. I got up at eight in the morning, and I got Chuck up and said, 'Do you want to get cleaned up? Do you want to do some shopping? Let's rock.' He was like, 'Sure.' Jani was all like, 'What's goin' on?' I'm like, 'Do you want to go to the hotel — yes or no?' He was like, 'No, I know some people here.' He found somebody who — again, I wasn't there — who sort of supplied him with whatever he was looking for, and he called me up and said that he wanted to take the day off. I was like, 'Day off?' I said, 'Day off?' Then he came up with this whole lie that was some sort of health-related issue. It was this whole song and dance. The ambulance came to pick him up. He bailed. Then he supposedly went to rehab for three weeks. He did go to rehab — I heard. Oh yeah, it was hypoglycemic shock. That was the story. He was supposed to be in this hospital in Buffalo. We called the hospital — he wasn't there. He was never admitted there. So he felt, 'uncomfortable?'"

KNAC.COM: Yes, I do believe that was adjective he used.

Kevin DuBrow: "Yeah, well, I guess if you run out of the substance that you need at that time, it can make you feel rather uncomfortable! [Laughs] I bear no ill will towards Jani Lane though. I wish him the best, and I especially wish him sobriety because the man has a severe alcohol problem. I can say that because I have been a drinker, and I've been a drugger — my two best friends are Frankie Banali and Glenn Hughes. Glenn Hughes has been a member of Alcoholics Anonymous for thirteen years. He has pretty much known from a long time ago that he had a problem. The guy has turned his life around in a way you could never believe, and he is the greatest singer to walk the face of the planet. Jani Lani is not untalented, but he needs to be in a program. Going to rehab and coming out drinking again isn't going to work. Yeah, so if he said he was 'uncomfortable' then I guess that's one way of putting it. Listen, I lost some money because of Jani because they lowered some of the guarantees because he was out of the tour. Again though, that is water under the bridge, and I wish him sobriety, I wish him good luck, and I wish him help."

Read Kevin DuBrow's entire interview with KNAC.COM at this location.